“……oh.”

 

I opened my eyes.

 

Ahh, I see.

I was brainwashed.

 

That explained everything.

 

“Ugh…… ”

 

I couldn’t hold it, so I vomited.

 

“Augh!　How disgusting! ”

“Guh! ”

 

The thief kicked me in the stomach. I was slammed into the wall and rolled on the floor. Where is this place? Is this the thieves’ hideout?

 

“Hey, don’t damage our precious products.”

“She’s fine, it was just the stomach, the stomach.”

“Then it’s fine. Hahaha! ”

 

What an asshole.

 

While lying in pain, I remembered my past, almost as if it were a distant dream.

 

 

…………Everything was a convenient delusion.

 

Only once was I stroked by Lucia-sama. And I distorted it to make it seem like it happened every day.

 

A gentle smile?　That kind of smile only happened once, in the last moments, when Lucia-sama turned it at me.

 

A mother-like figure?　What kind of mother uses her child as an assassin?　There’s no way I could ever forget those brutal days of killing.

 

Why did she turn me into a slave?　Why did she brainwash me?　Why was I the only survivor?　Why?　Why?　WHY!?

 

“Why?!　Why-?!! ”

 

“Hey, hey, hey, what’s wrong? ”

“Did she break? ”

 

I can’t stop my tears.

 

I was…

I was…

Not loved by anyone.

The only thing I believed was love, was fake.

 

What should I do?

What should I do!?

 

“It’ll be a problem if she bites her tongue.”

“You want me to shut her up with a rope?”

“Hey, open your mouth! ”

 

What should… I do…?

 

 

 

＊　＊　＊

 

 

 

The five thieves and Yukari entered a hideout inside the forest.

 

Two of them were guarding the gate. It is unknown how many people were originally inside. There seems to be no back door.

 

If possible, I’d like to settle this before dawn.

 

I grabbed my bow, and after setting an arrow, I slowly pulled the string.

I moved to the side of the hideout so that the two people will overlap in a straight line.

 

“…………”

 

It’s over if I hesitate.

I can’t afford to let go of this excellent future Blacksmith Master that I went to great pains to get.

 

I combined 《Lance Archery》 and 《Knight Archery》.

The moment it was ready, I let go of the arrow.

 

Along with the sound of cutting  wind, the arrow flew and pierced the head of the first man and blew off the neck of the second one.

 

Without even being able to utter a sound, the two men fell down. They were certainly dead. I had killed them.

 

I rushed out and approached the entrance, taking a glimpse at the inside.

 

“Hey, did you hear something just now? ”

“Let’s go check.”

 

I heard such a conversation.

I switched from my bow to my sword and concealed my breath next to the door.

 

As soon as the door opened and the two thieves came out, I slashed at one of them diagonally using 《Silver Swordsmanship》.

There was the sound of entrails splattering on the ground.

 

“Eh, wh-!? ”

 

When the other one tried to speak up, without holding back, I slashed at his neck using 《Soldier Swordsmanship》.

 

Quite easy.

 

I stepped inside their hideout with my sword ready.

The number of rooms was small. There were no signs of people in the rooms that looked like the kitchen and storage room.

 

But many voices could be heard from the innermost large room.

While preparing 《Gold Swordsmanship》I broke the door of the room.

 

“Hey, what’s wrong!? ”

“Ugh!? ”

 

《Gold Swordsmanship》is a ‘range attack to all directions’. The three thieves that tried to surround me were all blown away by the slash, and while scattering their blood, they died instantly.

 

“Y-you should be dead.”

 

They died with a surprised face.

 

There were three more thieves.

Yukari was gagged and rolled on the floor next to one of them. The other two unsheathed their swords and came attacking.

 

I retreated two steps diagonally to the right and activated 《Bishop Swordsmanship》. Its effect is ‘quick and strong piercing attack’. It’s the most useful 【Swordsmanship】 skill for interpersonal combat.

 

The two thieves came at me in a straight line like idiots. Unleashing 《Bishop Swordsmanship》, it penetrated the first one in the torso and cut off the wrist of the second thief.

 

“Ahh-AAAHHH! ”

 

The thief who lost his hand panicked and shouted. Soon after, I dealt with him using 《Soldier Swordsmanship》.

 

“Hey… what the hell is this… are you a monster…?”

 

Muttered the man next to Yukari. Most likely he was the leader of the thieves.

 

While lying on the ground, Yukari looked over here with tears in her eyes.

I couldn’t sense any vigilance or hostility from her eyes anymore.

Nice!　Seems like the brainwashing is crumbling!　What great luck……！

 

“Hold on!　Don’t move! ”

 

The leader drew his sword and pressed the blade on Yukari’s neck. He was taking her as a hostage.

 

“Hey, drop your sword now! ”

 

I faithfully obeyed. I held the sword in front of my chest with both hands, then I released it.

 

“Good, now――”

 

In the next moment, a 《Fire Attribute・First Form》 spell hit his face head on, and while making burning noises, it burst into flames.

He was so distracted by the sword falling on my feet that he didn’t notice the spell.

 

“Uwaa!? ”

 

The sword moved away from Yukari’s neck.

 

In that moment, I stabbed the leader with 【Magic Swordsmanship】, using a combination of 《Silver Swordsmanship》 and 《Water Attribute・Third Form》. Receiving a stab with Third Form right in the chest, his torso was blown off due to the water pressure. The fire on his head was also extinguished before it could spread, so it was killing two birds with one stone.

———————

 

“Are you alright? ”

 

After checking that there were no other thieves, I freed Yukari from her bonds.

 

“…………”

 

There was no vigor in her eyes.

Her feelings appeared to be all over the place, and she was just shedding tears.

 

“……Let’s go. The air in here is bad.”

 

I couldn’t find the proper words to call to her, so after saying that, I stood up.

 

Yukari followed after me silently while still crying.

 

And so, the morning of the fourth day came.

 

 

=====

 

Thank you for reading.

 

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Cheat sheet

Stats details

＜Status Details＞

• HP　Hit Points
• MP　Magic Points
• SP　Stamina Points
• STR　Short range attack skill power, strength, physical power.
• DEX　Long range attack skill power, dexterity, hit rate.
• AGI　Quickness, avoidance rate.
• INT　Attack Magic skill power.
• LUK　Good luck, critical rate.
• VIT　Simple defense.
• MGR　Magic defense.

Types of combat skills

Named after shogi pieces (The word in bold is the one being used in this translation). From easier to acquire to harder.

1. Pawn/Soldier (Fuhyou)
2. Lance(Kyousha)
3. Knight (Keima)
4. Silver General (Ginshou)
5. Gold General (Kinshou)
6. Bishop (Kakugyou)
7. Rook (Hisha)
8. Promoted Bishop/Dragon Horse(Ryuuma)
9. Promoted Rook/Dragon King (Ryuuou).

List of Swordsmanship skills

Swordsmanship

1. 《Soldier Swordsmanship》　                  Normal attack.
2. 《Lance Swordsmanship》　                    Piercing attack.
3. 《Knight Swordsmanship》　                   Precision attack.
4. 《Silver Swordsmanship》　                     Strong single-target attack.
5. 《Gold Swordsmanship》                           Small-range attack to all directions.
6. 《Bishop Swordsmanship》                       ???
7. 《Rook Swordsmanship》　                      ???
8. 《Dragon Horse Swordsmanship》　    ???
9. 《Dragon King Swordsmanship》　       ???

List of Shieldmanship skills

Shieldmanship

1. 《Soldier Shieldmanship》　                  Normal defense.
2. 《Lance Shieldmanship》　                    Piercing deflection.
3. 《Knight Shieldmanship》　                   Defense + knockback.
4. 《Silver Shieldmanship》　                     ???
5. 《Gold Shieldmanship》                           Ranged guided defense + knockback.
6. 《Bishop Shieldmanship》                       Reinforced defense (Temporarily boosts VIT and MGR)
7. 《Rook Shieldmanship》　                      ???
8. 《Dragon Horse Shieldmanship》　    ???
9. 《Dragon King Shieldmanship》　       ???

List of Archery skills

Archery

1. 《Soldier Archery》　                  Normal range attack.
2. 《Lance Archery》　                    Piercing range attack.
3. 《Knight Archery》　                   Precise sniping range attack.
4. 《Silver Archery》　                     Strong single-target range attack.
5. 《Gold Archery》                           Weaker range attack with added knockback.
6. 《Bishop Archery》                       Strong piercing range attack.
7. 《Rook Archery》　                      Very strong single-target range attack with scaling % damage.
8. 《Dragon Horse Archery》　    Powerful piercing range attack.
9. 《Dragon King Archery》　       Powerful on-impact range attack.

Types of Magic skills

They use the “Form” or “step” system of martial arts. From lower to higher.

1. First Form　      　      Regular attack
2. Second Form　      　 Extended range attack
3. Third Form　      　    Strong single target attack
4. Fourth Form　      　  Strong extended range attack
5. Fifth Form　      　      Extremely powerful extended range attack

• Their cast time becomes longer in this order First→Third→Second→Fourth→Fifth.

Ranking of the skills

From lower to higher, then it changes to the “Dan” system of martial arts, which means Grade.

1. 16th class
2. 15th class
3. 14th class
4. 13th class
5. 12h class
6. 11th class
7. 10th class
8. 9th class
9. 8th class
10. 7th class
11. 6th class
12. 5th class
13. 4th class
14. 3rd class
15. 2nd class
16. 1st class
17. Grade 1
18. Grade 2
19. Grade 3
20. Grade 4
21. Grade 5
22. Grade 6
23. Grade 7
24. Grade 8
25. Grade 9
26. Title

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 ToC    

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